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More than 10,000 firearms have been taken out of circulation throughout New Jersey following 853 no-questions-asked gun buybacks out of Passaic County this past weekend, Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced this afternoon.

“It’s a credit to the citizens of Passaic County, as well as the other counties we’ve visited, that we’ve managed to take so many lethal weapons out of circulation,” Chiesa said during a news conference at the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office in Totowa.

As a result, none of those weapons “will be stolen and used in a street crime, to turn a domestic argument into a homicide, to accidentally kill or wound a curious child, or to claim the life of one of our courageous police officers,” he said.

The “vast majority” of firearms turned in during last weekend’s event are “operable and capable of taking a life or maiming someone,” the attorney general said.

Among the weapons collected were 384 handguns and 53 guns that are illegal to own, either because they feature unlawfully high magazine capacities or have been unlawfully modified, he said.

They included:

two Tec 9 firearms with 32-round magazine capacities;

an AK-47 assault rifle;

two M1 rifles, one with a magazine capacity of 20 rounds, the other with 30;

a sawed-off shotgun with double pistol grip;

a 12-gauge, double-barreled, sawed-off shotgun.

That brought the number for buybacks in six New Jersey counties over the past year to 10,006.

Roughly $112,350 in state and county criminal forfeiture funds were spent to buy back the firearms in Passaic County, Chiesa said. There were two drop-off points: Gilmore Memorial Tabernacle Church in Paterson and at St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church in Passaic.

Those who turned in their weapons received up to $250 per gun, with a maximum limit of three.

“There is no way to measure the potential tragedies that have been averted through this initiative,” Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said.

ALSO SEE:
Bergen County’s haul during this weekend’s gun buyback was 1,345 firearms surrendered — along with 55,000 rounds of ammo — one of the state’s highest totals to date, Sheriff Michael Saudino said today. The literal caliber of many of the weapons reflects the population of the county.
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Throughout the ongoing campaign, Chiesa noted, citizens have “voiced concern about gun violence in their communities, and expressed enthusiasm for ridding their neighborhoods of deadly firearms.”

He emphasized once again that gun buybacks alone won’t solve “the complex and multi-faceted problem of gun violence” but said they work as “an important element of a broader strategy aimed at reducing shooting deaths and shooting injuries in New Jersey.”

“We believe they’re making a real difference throughout our state — particularly in light of the many illegal guns we’ve taken out of circulation,” Chiesa said. “We also believe the majority of New Jersey residents support this program.

“That’s because they want safer communities, and common sense tells them that reducing the number of guns lying around waiting to fall into the wrong hands is one way to achieve that.”

Chiesa thanked Pastor Thomas Farrar of the Gilmore Memorial Tabernacle Church, and Rev. Brando Ibarra of St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church for helping make the buyback possible.